spinal tap

Spinal Tap is getting the band back together. The principal cast and director of the peerless 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap are reuniting for Spinal Tap II, a sequel planned for release by Castle Rock Entertainment on March 19, 2024. Deadline reports that Rob Reiner will return both as director behind-the-scenes and in character as fake filmmaker Marty DiBergi, as will Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnel), Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins) and Harry Shearer (Derek Smalls), who together comprise the core members of the fictional hard rock outfit. Reiner told Deadline the idea is based around the now-septuagenarian Spinal Tap reforming to fulfill a contractual obligation with their late manager Ian Faith (Tony Hendra, who portrayed the character in the original film, died last year). “Ia...

Ric Parnell, who portrayed Spinal Tap drummer Mick Shrimpton in the iconic 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap and later recorded and toured with the group, died on Sunday (May 1) at the age of 70. Harry Shearer, who portrayed Spinal Tap bassist Derek Smalls, revealed the news on his Twitter account. No cause of death has been announced. “No one ever rocked harder,” Shearer wrote. Michael McKean, who portrayed Tap frontman David St. Hubbins, added that Parnell “was the real deal” in a comment on a newly established GoFundMe campaign to help cover his final expenses. Born in 1951 in London, Parnell played with acts such as Horse, Atomic Rooster, Nova, Michael Des Barres and Stars in the 1970s and ‘80s and reportedly turned down offers to join Journey and Whitesnake. He can also be heard playing dr...

The Tap is back. A few weeks after settling a years-long lawsuit with Vivendi and its subsidiary StudioCanal, the This Is Spinal Tap cast will reunite for a fundraiser on Oct. 14. Christopher Guest, Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer, and Michael McKean are joining forces to help raise funds for Democrats in Pennsylvania — a state that FiveThirtyEight said is likely to be the tipping point in this year’s presidential election. Of course, being that this is 2020, it will be a virtual reunion and will be hosted by Patton Oswalt. Get more info on how to tune in to the livestream by clicking here. Announcing today: “This Is Spinal Tap” cast is reuniting to benefit the Democratic Party of Pennsylvania. Join me, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean on Oct.14 for a ...

This is Spinal Tap creators Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean have reached a settlement with Vivendi and its subsidiary StudioCanal after initially filing a lawsuit three and a half years ago that alleged the media conglomerate committed fraud and withheld revenue from them. In the initial lawsuit filed in October 2016, Shearer sought $125 million in compensatory and punitive damages, but the addition of three new plaintiffs (Reiner, Guest and McKean) raised that figure to $400 million when they joined the suit in February 2017. They claimed that Vivendi only reported $98 in total income from soundtrack music sales and $81 in worldwide merchandising income between 1989 and 2006. As The Hollywood Reporter states, both sides are in...